Improvement in guides for sewing-machines



No. 31,366. PATENTED FEB. 12, 1861-.

D. BARNUM.

GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

ZZ7a66 a e s mania? UNITE STATES" PATENT OFlfICE;

DANIEL BARNUM, or JERSEY orrv, Nnw nnsEY.

'- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. L366, dated February 172, 1861.

To allurlzom. i t may Mat-cm: Be it known that I, ,DANXEL BARNUM, of Jersey City, in the Stateof New Jersey, have invented new and useful improvements. in manufacturing sewing-gages for sewing tucks, hems, and other sea-ms; and I do hereby (leclare the following to be a full-and clear description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference on the same, which forni part' of this specification. I i

Figure l is a perspective plan view, exhibiting the various parts; and'Fig. 2 is a section through the line A B.

- It is well known that in sewinglightand fragile textures and fine goods with the ordinary sewing-gage it requires great careeven with skillful operators to prevent the material from crimping ordonbling upagainst the gage, and thus to secure straight and even widths of seams; and more especially is this the case in sewing tucks in fine undressed mnslins and silks and other soft fabrics. My improvements are intended to obviate this difficultyand to enable ladies of limited experience to use the sewing-machine with satisfactory resalts to themselves.

The nature of my invention consists in the use of thin elastic sheet metal for making entire double-spring clamping-gages, with elastic clamping, &e., for preventing light flexible materials from crimpin'gor doubling up against the. gage, and for sewing tucks, heme, and straight seams on sewing-machines, in combination with cutting out the fastening-slot and gaging-lips from the under spring and the enlarged or relief slot from the upper spring, and turning up from the under elampin g-sprin g the vgaging lips, and leaving both the under and upper springs extending out beyond the gaging-lips to form upper and under elastic clampingsurfaces, between which the material to be sewed is gently pressed and kept smooth without interfering with the feed while passing the material to the needle to be sewed; and it consists, also, in the use of the said elastic thin sheet metalfor making elastic clamping-surfaces outside of the gages, as specified, in combination wi h pressing or stamping male and female corrugations in both under and upper springs to graduate their strength in various parts as well as across their clamping-surfaces outside of the gage in a diagonal direction, so as to form diagonal clamps which are elastic and yielding toineqnalitics, while at the same time they exert a gentle pressure upon and incline themater ial against the gaginglips, and thus secure straight seams and smooth surfaces in the tucks and hems automatically. My jimprovements therefore en able me to cheapen the cost of manufacturing sewingrgages, and at the same time to facilirate the operations of the inexperienced learners in acquiring practical success in using sewing'machines, as well asof expert operators.

. To enable others to make and use my invention, I refer to the drawings, andtothe letters of reference thereon, which make part of this specification. p a y. v 1

Figure 1 isa perspective plan view, and it showsall the various parts to be copstrncted from one piece of elasticthin sheet metahwith the gaging-lips cut out from the under side or.

lower spring-clamp, with the fastening and adjusting slot, surrounded by an enlarged slot in the upper clamp-spring, this enlarged slot being designed to give entire freedom to the up per spring by working around the fasteningscrew.

(1 is the under clamping-spring, forming the bed-piece of the gage.

b, c, and 61 represent three gaging-lips, cut out and turned up from at through slots cut in 0, so as to form gages for the material to run against, as well as stops to prevent e from opening far enough from (t to bend the metal of the springs. I sometimes make but two of these gaging-lips, as the number is not very material.

fis the fastening and adjusting slot in a, and g the enlarged slot in e.

It shows the front edge of the upper springclamp turned up, which strengthens the spring and presents a beveled surface to the advancing material for facilitating the entrance of unequal surfaces into or between the clamps, and for this purpose, also, the project ing portions of a are deflected downward from the gaging-lip 11 around to the corner z, and thus presenting reverse bevel surfaces, formin g incline planes, between which the material finds an easy entrance within the springclamps.

j shows a male and female corrugation inboth a and 6. These serve to give strength to the springs, and enable me to use very thin sheet metal, and by that means to secure the utmost delicacy of pressure and of elasticity,- a point necessary to the success of the improvement, but which is not attainable 'with thick metal.

At k is seen a male and female diagonal corrugation, stamped or pressed into and across both the upper andunder clamping-spring surfaces, which, in combination with the gagin'g' lips and thin elastic sheet metal, constitutes male and female "diagonal clamping springgages for sewing straight seams, tucks, or hems. The corrugations should be stamped up from the under side'of a. This will leave a level surface on the under side, so as to fit themachine, and at the same time the upper side may be beautitied with beads formed by the corrugations." The diagonal male and female corrugation should be made within an 'angle of forty-five degrees with the line of the gaging-lips. This angle may be varied without materially changing the result.

It will of course be understood that the material is to be fed into the clamping -surfaces through the inclined planes, when the male and female diagonal.slidiugclamps will incline the same automatically toward the gaginglips and deliver the portion to be sewed to the needle correctly, the gage being so placed that the needleor pressure pad comes just up to the delivery side of the gage, seen at l.) I Having thus fully descri ed the nature and operation of my invention, and pointed out a some of'the modifications which may be adopted in constructing the same, 1 remark that I do not claim to have invented diagonal clamps operated by springs; nor do I claim the use of thin elastic sheet metal, except as particularly specified,and in the manner and com binations specified; but b What Ido claim as'my invention in thecon struction of elastic and flexible sheet-metal sewing-gages for sewing tucks and other scams, and which I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isa p 1. In gages for sewing tucks and seams, the combination of the following elements or features as follows, to wit: first, thin elastic and flexible sheet-metal under and upper clam pin gsurfaces, a and 0, outside of a gage, as specified; second, a gage turned up from or at-' tached to the under spring-plate, a, forminga base to the clamping-surfaces a and e at the line b c ll, as"specified; third, the upward deflection of the edge h of the upper clampingsurface, 0, as set forth.

2. In combination with the combination first claimed, male and female corrugations or grooves k, struck up in and diagonally across both under and upper clamping-surfaces, a and e, as and for the purposes specified.

v DANIEL BARNUM.

Witnesses:

0. S. BABNUM. En. B. BARNUM 

